Synthetic resins have the advantage of realizing various colors and are widely used as an exterior material for furniture and home appliances. However, typical synthetic resins have a limitation in realizing a natural and complicated pattern like a real natural stone or fabric. Thus, there have been various attempts aimed at realization of new patterns using particulate additives. However, there was a problem in that such patterns are too simple and artificial and have low marketability.
In order to overcome such a problem to realize a natural pattern like a real natural stone or fabric, there have been proposed (1) a method in which a molded article is manufactured using a synthetic resin, followed by painting of a surface of the article, (2) a method in which stone dust or wood flour is spayed on an upper surface of a melt extruded resin sheet, followed by embedding the sprayed particles into the surface of the sheet using a pressing force of a cooling roll, as disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-0447717, and (3) a method in which a natural texture is provided to a sheet using wood flour, followed by laminating the sheet on a base sheet, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-122390.
However, synthetic resin products obtained by these methods do not have a natural texture due to a simple appearance, require an additional process such as painting or attachment of a printed film, or have poor heat resistance and thus are not suitable as an exterior material for home appliances, which are manufactured by injection molding.
Therefore, there is a need for a synthetic resin which can be produced into an article by injection molding while realizing a natural appearance like a real natural stone or fabric.